Corban Porter, the brother of Denver Nuggets star Michael Porter Jr., was sentenced Friday to six years in prison for driving under the influence of alcohol that killed a woman, The Denver Post reported.
The ruling came just two days after Jontay Porter, brother of Coban and Michael, was permanently banned from the NBA for his involvement in a gambling scheme.
The accident that led to Coban's imprisonment occurred in the early morning hours of Sunday, January 22, 2023, and he was arrested later that day. The 22-year-old reportedly ran a red light while driving drunk just before 2 a.m. and crashed into a car driven by Kathy Limon Rothman. Rossman, 42, was killed and a passenger in her car was seriously injured.
Prosecutors said Porter was driving 50 miles per hour in a 30 zone and had a blood alcohol level of .19. Rothman has a young son and was driving for Uber at the time.
Porter pleaded guilty in February to charges of vehicular homicide and vehicular assault, with the terms of his plea reportedly being sentenced to up to eight years in prison. If found guilty at trial, he could be sentenced to up to 12 years in prison.
From the post:
“All I can really say is I'm sorry,” Porter said Friday in a Denver courtroom. “I know I'll never be able to right that wrong…I never thought I'd be standing here. I thought I was invincible. This isn't the first time I've chosen to drink and drive. I didn't…I'm really sorry.”
Rossman's mother, Connie Johnson, also told the court on Friday that the crash ended her life, police said.
“This pain and trauma became the worst reality for me,” she said. “…every part of my life that brings joy and happiness is encountered in parallel with the pain of her absence.…Because of his choices, my grandson grew up without his mother. As a result, my son-in-law became a widow and my husband and I lost our children.”
Before the accident, Porter was a guard for the University of Denver basketball team. He averaged 11.4 points per game during his freshman season in 2021-22, the slowest in a series of players from prominent basketball families.
Coban's older sisters, Bri Porter and Sierra Porter, were the first members of their family to play college basketball at the University of Missouri, where their father, Michael Sr., worked as an assistant coach for the men's team. Michael Jr. was a top rookie with the Tigers destined for stardom, but a back injury limited him to just three games before finding success in the NBA with the Denver Nuggets.
Jontay also played at Missouri State and entered the NBA as an undrafted player. He spent most of his professional career in the G League before finding a bench role with the Toronto Raptors this season.
Unfortunately, Jontay gained notoriety on Wednesday following his conviction in an NBA investigation that revealed confidential information to sports bettors, restricted his participation in his own games for gambling purposes, and placed bets on NBA games. It has increased.
The most notorious example of Porter's violation was shockingly obvious. DraftKings noted that in two days he noticed that his two biggest winning bets were on Porter's under. Porter is a betting player who saw little action. In the same game, Porter claimed an injury and then he left the court early claiming illness.
Michael Jr., who has one brother banned from the NBA and another sent to prison, is scheduled to play in the Nuggets' title defense against the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday.
